Opportunities For Innovative Start-Ups

Italiano: Le Opportunità Per Le Start-Ups Innovative

TAX CREDIT ON R&D

All companies also Innovative Start-ups that make investments in certain R&D activities can benefit from a particular tax credit (ex 3 Decree Law 145/2013).

Eligible investments:

• must cover activities of (i) fundamental research ("ricerca fondamentale"), (ii) industrial research ("ricerca industriale") and (iii) experimental development ("sviluppo sperimentale);
• must be carried out from 2015 to 2020.

The costs that entitle the tax credit are:

• costs for personnel employed in R&D activities;
• the amortization cost of the acquisition or use of laboratory instruments and equipment;
• costs related to research contracts;
• costs incurred for industrial technical and industrial skills.

Tax news introduced by the DL 12.7.2018 n. 87 ("Decreto Dignità")

Costs incurred for the purchase, also under license for use, of the intangible assets pursuant to art. 3 co. 6 lett. d) of Decree Law 145/2013, deriving from transactions with companies belonging to the same group (pursuant to Article 2359 of the Civil Code); in detail, these are expenditures related to industrial technical and industrial skills related to (a) an industrial or biotechnological invention, (b) a topography of a semiconductor product or (c) a new plant variety.

Method of calculating the tax credit

• The tax credit is equal to 50% of the expenses incurred in excess of the average of the same investments made in the 3 tax periods prior to the one in progress as at 31 December 2015 (the average should be calculated in the years 2012-2014 dividend for 3 years even if no significant costs have been incurred – the three-year reference period remains fixed for all tax periods affected by the subsidy).
• The tax credit is recognized on condition that the costs incurred for R&D in each period are at least equal to € 30,000.
• The maximum annual amount of tax credit that each beneficiary can accrue is 20 million euros.

How to use the tax credit:

• The credit can be used for compensation (possibility to make use of one's credits in order to reduce the amount of taxes, sanctions, contributions and sums due. Compensations are made effective by indicating them in the F24 form), without limits, from the tax period following the one in which the related costs were incurred.
• The credit must be indicated in the tax return (framework RU) relating to the period in which the costs were incurred and to those in which it is used.
• The credit does not contribute to the formation of income and of the IRAP tax base.